King, Queen visit National Zoo to see giant pandas

Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah Hamidun, Wednesday visited Zoo Negara to see the giant pandas, Xing Xing and Liang Liang.

Their Majesties were welcomed on arrival at the zoo by Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr James Dawos Mamit, Zoo Negara president Datuk Seri Zaharin Md Arif and ministry officials.

Tuanku Abdul Halim and Tuanku Hajah Haminah, accompanied by Dawos and Zaharin, boarded a tram to the Giant Panda Conservation Centre where they were given a briefing by the ministry's secretary-general, Datuk Seri Zoal Azha Yusof.

Their Majesties spent about 20 minutes at the centre, and fed Xing Xing, the male panda, some apple.

Meanwhile, the ministry said in a statement that up to Aug 31, some 82,597 people had visited the centre to see the pandas.

The centre was opened by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on June 25.

Najib also announced the new names for the pandas, until then known as Fu Wa and Feng Yi.

The pair of giant pandas had been loaned to Malaysia by China under an international conservation cooperation programme as part of the efforts to strengthen bilateral relations.

This coincided with the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China.